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Description

Tasting Notes: Named after Edmundo Dantes, hero of Alexandro Dumas' famous novel "The Count of Montecristo", the Edmundo is the first size to be added to Montecristo's standard range since 1971. It is the second new 52 ring gauge, parejo size to be introduced by Habanos, SA within a year. All Edmundos are tripa larga, totalmente a mano - long filler, totally hand made using medium to full-bodied blend of Vuelta Abajo Tobaccos that deliver the classic, bitter-sweet, tangy flavour that has made Montecristo the world's most popular Havana cigar brand

Taste Test

Reviewed by Stuart Dixon (December 2005)

Last June (2004), whilst working in York, I tracked down the local cigar emporium in the centre of town. This small and well-stocked tobacconist provided 30-minutes worth of "Ooohs" and "Ahhs" as I pressed my nose against the glass door of the walk-in humidor.

I decided immediately upon seeing them that one of the (then) newly-released Montecristo Edmundo's should grace my humidor with its presence, and so picked out the best example.

Substantial in girth, the cigar is dressed in a mid-brown, sheeny wrapper. Solid the entire length, there is a certain toothiness about it, veins evident from top to bottom, and it's double-capped.

It is excellently balanced and feels exceptional in the hand. On the nose, there is leather and fruit, and some pepper to the lips.

It is altogether a very good-looking cigar.

I did read that the cigar was a tad "green" back in the summer of 04 and that it required between 6 months and 3 years to age. I put this single onto the bottom shelf of the humidor and tried to forget about it.

A year later, a trip to London with the Mrs, and a visit to Dick's Bar in the Atlantic Bar and Grill in Piccadilly in July (oh, yes, I am aware how this must look, but it was true!), seemed like the fitting occasion to smoke this majestic cigar.

In the art deco splendour, with a Havana Club on the table in front of me, I pulled it out and began the ritual. It took two matches to toast the foot, the girth being so substantial, but I was in no hurry. I then lit the cigar proper and noted the toasted woodiness that wafted into the room.

The opening draws were some of the very best I've had from any cigar. The pull was just excellent, producing bountiful amounts of thick aromatic smoke which were grandly exhaled towards the starry ceiling of the bar.

The flavours were light - sharp cedar and spices, peppery and crisp.

In the hand, the Edmundo feels just superb - significant, ample and generous all spring to mind - and it looks like a serious cigar. It is particularly imposing in its first inch or so, when it still has that square ash.

Strength-wise, it is a gentle-giant and certainly no cigar beginner should be put off by this one. I found it quite mild, perhaps entering the medium spectrum in its latter stages.

The burn was a little disappointing - it quickly became ragged and required correction - and the ash was initially good and square, but later coned, spoiling the "cut" of the cigar, but, these minor gripes aside, I enjoyed the smoke immensely.

Into the final third, the cigar began to go out. I re-lit it once, but some bitterness was evident and I finally dropped it in a Piccadilly gutter, a glamorous end for any Cuban cigar.

They are perhaps young and fresh still, but age can only add to their quality. This is - and will be - something a bit special.
I found this review to be much too wordy for my tastes. I understand that surroundings can play a big part of smoking a special cigar but I would have preferred to have heard more about the cigar and less about the author's surroundings. There was really only the one, one-sentence paragraph that described the actual flavours o! f the cigar. And while the Edmundo is a cigar that I would still like to try, this review did not increase my desire much.

Reviewed by: ScottyJScore: 7 out of 10 (Would have been a 6 if I didn't think the author was really trying.)

I like this review! It read like a story that drew the reader in. I liked the way he/she described the characteristics I want to know about, smoke volume and aroma, draw, weight, ash. Hints of "cherry" and "hickory bark" that are so prevalent in other reviews I can do without. I will try this cigar some day - because of this review.

Reviewed by: Darry RoseScore: 9 out of 10

Written in more of a formal style, I liked the use of visual imagery but it did not enhance the description of the cigar and took focus away from the subject at hand. I did like description of the burn qualities of the cigar ..I could visualize exactly what was happening.